Monday 23 January 2023

No 13769, Monday 23 Jan 2023, Dr. X

Solution to 21D has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS
1   Kick in crotch? That is awful (8) RICOCHET {CROTCH+IE}*
5   Game of chance after bachelor's extremely drunk (6) BLOTTO {LOTTO}<=>{B}
10 Gathering of witches in cavern at end of Halloween (5) COVEN {COVE}{h...eN}
11 Canoodling with a star in opening when husband's away (6,3) MAKING OUT {M{A}KING}OUTh}
12 Distributed special protein bars, over 500 (9) PORTIONED {PORTI{O}NE*}{D}
13 Crushed by runout, really shocking (5) OUTRE [T]
14 Immature desire to get hold of joint increases (6) WIDENS {WI{DEN}Sh}
15 A canoe floating around island in Pacific region (7) OCEANIA {A+CANOE}* over {I}
18 Bad-tempered woman's fury overwhelming students at college (7) HELLCAT {HE{LL}{C}AT}
20 Dropping good equipment, scowl and utter explosively (3,3) RIP OUT {RIg}{POUT}
22 Close after introducing new surgical bypass tube (5) SHUNT {SHU{N}T}
24 Love energy after consuming very strong drug (9) AFFECTION {A{FF}{E}CTION}
25 India's opener on zero - absorbing start to Test, man's nervous (2,1,6) IN A DITHER {In..a}{NADI{Test}{HE}R}
26 First off, warn about hot volatile liquid (5) ETHER {dET{H}ER}
27 Cry of huntsmen is so icky, barbaric (6) YOICKS*
28 Becomes uneasy as rebellious teens drink (6,2) TENSES UP {TEENS*}{SUP}

DOWN
1   Method is perfect to smuggle ecstasy and cocaine (6) RECIPE {R{E}{C}IPE}
2   Model in club finished back massage and left (5,4) COVER GIRL {C}{OVER}{RIG<=}{L}
3   Cheat playing cricket fined for deception (10,5) CONFIDENCE TRICK {CON}{CRICKET+FINED}*
4   Animals crushed by pachyderm in estate (7) ERMINES [T]
6   Make money dishonestly from fake old pennies in ornamental cases (4,4,7) LINE ONES POCKETS {O+PENNIES}* in{LOCKETS}
7   Swimmer is tense, starting to overexert in channel (5) TROUT {T}{R{Ov...t}UT}
8   Where yoga practitioner might be seen being reprimanded (2,3,3) ON THE MAT [DD]
9   Most willingly, child enters snowmobile (6) SKIDOO {S{KID}OOn}
16 Nurses in hospital involved in treatment of neurosis (9) NOURISHES {NOURIS{H}ES*}
17 Many impatient to have sex in the unmarried state (8) CHASTITY {C}{HAST{IT}Y}
19 Kitschy painting reviewed and withdrawn (6) TRASHY {ART<=}{SHY}
20 Adjudicate about liberal tackling intolerance at Centre (7) REFEREE {RE}{F{i...lEr...e}REE}
21 Dishonest boy escapes punishment for trick (6) ?N?R?P (Addendum - ENTRAP {bENT}{RAP} - See comments)
23 Extract of kokum, a mildly savoury taste (5) UMAMI [T]

Reference List
Bachelor = B, Husband = H, 500 = D, Over = O, island = I, Student = L, College = C, Good = G, New = N, Very strong = FF, Drug = E, Hot = H, Drink = SUP, Old = O, Tense = T, Hospital = H, Many = C, Sex = IT, About = RE, Boy = B

8 comments:

  1. 21D: Dishonest = BENT, without B (boy) = ENT + RAP (punishment) = ENTRAP = trick

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  2. Found the going tough..☹️

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  3. 25A = Does NADI stand for ZERO??

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  4. Got it!! missed the second line of Col's answer. NADIR it is.

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  5. Possibly opposite of zenith.. ie., zero point / degrees. I could be wrong though

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  6. Was slow to get off the blocks, but eventually crossed the line. Dr X raising the bar ever so gradually as the days pass. Thanks Dr X.

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